FAQ

Program Content & Community

Wednesday from 9AM PST – 1:30PM PST.

Founders get support from the EIRs that run the program, assigned mentors matched by StartOut, experts that provide office hours based on different subject matters and the other founders in the Cohort.

Experience has been very positive. We have 1 company in the current cohort that has a non-LBGTQ+ founder and their experience has been excellent.

Results & Impact

The Lab was founded in 2017 and is run by StartOut, the largest nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, now in partnership with DLA Piper, JP Morgan, and Comcast Universal.

Since our founding, we have supported 56 graduated companies that have raised $763M+ in funding and created over 3,650+ new jobs.

  1. You can find the full list here

Timeline & Call for Applications

May 15, 2023

  1. In order to apply, please fill out – or update – your founder application on StartOut online community portal. Once you submit your founder application, you will be redirected to a dedicated page with additional questions specific to StartOut Growth Lab.

The program lasts 5 months.

September 4th, 2023

No fee to join.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Company or a subsidiary is registered in the US

  • Product or service is established in the marketplace

  • Business runway is 9+ months (not a requirement)

  • Generating revenue

  • High-growth companies with a path to scalability

  • Consulting services

  • Cannabis-related, sex-tech, or firearm companies 

  • Brick-and-mortar businesses

  • Pre-MVP

  • Non-profit organizations

  • A company where the founder is not working full-time in the business

Early-stage, scalable startups are the best fit for our program.

Yes, but founders must have their business or subsidiary registered in the US.

Both are suitable for the program. However, consulting type businesses are not a fit as they are not very scalable or venture backed.

Non-profit organizations are not a good fit for this program. However, non-profit organizations can join our regular Founders Program

No, non tech-enabled startups can apply. 

Yes, we accept solo founders, but we do prefer to have co-founder groups.  On a side note, one person companies are typically too early stage for the program.

18 years is the youngest age of applicant we will accept.

This depends on the situation per company.  We like to see applicants have their product in the market transacting.  MVP or Pre-MVP tends to be too early for the program.

StartOut Growth Lab is Sponsored by DLA Piper, JP Morgan and Comcast NBCUniversal.